Polonium Exposure - UK

• The Health Protection Agency wants to reassure members of the public that the risk of having been exposed to this substance remains low. It can only represent a radiation hazard if it is taken into the body – by breathing it in, by taking it into the mouth, or if it gets into a wound. It is not a radiological hazard as long as it remains outside the body. Most traces of it can be eliminated through handwashing, or washing machine and dishwasher cycles for clothes, plates etc.
  
  
• If anyone has been internally contaminated by inadvertently ingesting or inhaling Polonium-210 from the patient’s body fluids or excreta, it is most unlikely that they would receive a radiation dose high enough to give rise to medical symptoms.
  
  
• People would not be exposed to radiation simply through being near to the patient. Any people who may have inadvertently ingested or inhaled Polonium-210 will not present a hazard to other people nearby.

» Bulletin by British British Airways on the possible exposure.

Patients and clinicians can also call Washington Poison Center toll-free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-222-1222 with questions.

• UK National Health Service
  
  
• UK Health Protection Agency
  
  
• CDC page on radiation
  
  
• WA Department of Health Office of Radiation: Contact Earl Fordham at 509-946-0234; Earl.Fordham@doh.wa.gov
  
  
• Information Regarding Polonium 210 Involved in Recent Events in the United Kingdom (CDC)